The Full Chapter from the
Book of Jibril on the Occasion of His Knighting
1. Into the kingdom came a
man. 2. He was only a man, nothing more and nothing less, bestowed with the
gifts which all men may access. 3. He took a name for himself, and was called
Jibril. 4. This man could have taken his own gifts and done with them for
himself. Many men do this, neither to their credit nor demerit. They are not
judged. 5. Jibril took his gifts as though they were the seeds of fine trees.
Each one he planted and tended.
6. After many years the trees
did grow, to the height of a man, each green with leaves. 7. Though the growth
was slow, he nurtured them with his deeds. The things he did for himself made
the leaves brighter. The things he did for others made the trunks stronger. The
things he did because they were the right things – those went deep into the soil.
8. In time the trees gave
shelter and shade. Each limb he trimmed was fashioned into an object of beauty
or a finely wrought weapon. The trees became a grove where people gathered
around him in friendship. 9. All had come to respect this man who so tended his
grove and was generous with his property and riches it had granted him. 10. One
day Jibril was with his beloved company among the grove he had planted when, in
the heat of the summer sun and its monsoons of rains, every tree burst into
bloom. 11. The blossoms shone in the light, reflecting the gifts he had planted
long ago, each branch weighty with his virtues.
12. The trees could now be
named: Courage, with blossoms red as blood; Justice, blooming with orange fire;
Generosity, as gold as honey; Hope, as green as the first spring; Mercy, as
blue as lapis lazuli; Nobility, as purple as the dusk; Prowess, indigo so dark
as to be night. 13. The last tree which opened did so at dusk, and it
bore a flower of the most pure and shining white ever seen. All who saw it
understood that Jibril, in all his ceaseless tending, had brought forth the
rarest flower of them all – Chivalry.
14. And so it was that a
blossom from this tree was shown to all the land. 15. Thus was Prophet summoned
before the King and Queen in his own garden with those of greatest honor, each
of whom wore about them the white of the sun reflected in the moon. 16. They
bade Jibril sit vigil in his garden to consider the deeds of his life. 17.
After the moon had set, the white blossoms fell before him and a single great
fruit grew upon the tree. 18. When the crowd returned, the white-bearers
plucked this blossom and did open it into the hands of Jibril. This was the
fruit of his labours and love – a belt of white and a chain of gold. 19. It is
said that this, while seeming miraculous, was indeed not so, for it was merely
the fruits of labor well-earned. 20. And so it was that he who was known as
Prophet was now known also as Knight.
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The Abbreviated Court Version as read by Queen Kiena
at Pennsic’s East Kingdom Court upon the Knighting of Sir Jibril al-Dakhil
Into the kingdom came a man. He
took a name for himself and was called Jibril. Jibril took his gifts as though
they were the seeds of fine trees. Each one he planted and tended.
Though the growth was slow,
he nurtured them with his deeds. The things he did for himself made their
leaves brighter. The things he did for others made their trunks stronger. The
things he did because they were the right things – those went deep into the
soil.
In time the trees gave
shelter and shade. Each limb he trimmed was fashioned into an object of beauty
or a finely wrought weapon. One day Jibril was with his people among the grove
when every tree burst into bloom. The blossoms shone in the light, reflecting
the gifts he had planted long ago, each branch weighty with his virtues.
The trees could now be named:
Courage, with blossoms red as blood; Justice, blooming with orange fire;
Generosity, as gold as honey; Hope, as green as the first spring; Mercy, as
blue as lapis lazuli; Nobility, as purple as the dusk; Prowess, indigo so dark
as to be night. The last tree which opened, did so at dusk, and it bore a
flower of the most pure and shining white ever seen. All who saw it understood
that Jibril, in all his ceaseless tending, had brought forth the rarest flower
of them all – Chivalry.
Thus was Prophet summoned
before the King and Queen in his own garden with those of greatest honor, each
of whom wore about them the white of the sun reflected in the moon. After the
moon had set, a single great fruit grew upon the tree. The white-bearers
plucked this blossom and did open it into the hands of Jibril. This was the
fruit of his labours and love – a belt of white and a chain of gold. And so it
was that he who was known as Prophet was now known also as Knight.
By Baroness Aneleda Falconbridge.
